Death & Dying Life & Living 7th Edition by Charles A. Corr - Test Bank

Death & Dying Life & Living 7th Edition by Charles A. Corr – Test Bank

 

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CHAPTER FOUR

 

 

DEATH-RELATED PRACTICES AND

 

THE AMERICAN DEATH SYSTEM

 

 

TOPICAL OUTLINE

 

• A brief description of the death-related events of September 11, 2001

 

• A concept for organizing the study of death-related experiences: the “death system” in every society, plus its elements and functions

 

• The American death system’s responses to the events of September 11, 2001 (plus a box on death systems and some recent natural disasters)

 

• Human-induced death: accidents, homicide, terrorism, war, genocide, and ethnic cleansing, the Holocaust, and the nuclear era

 

• Death and language: language about death contrasted with death-related language

 

• Death and the media: news reports and entertainment programs

 

 

OBJECTIVES

 

• To explore selected examples of death-related practices as the third component, along with death-related encounters and attitudes, of death-related experiences in our society (see Figure II.1 on p. 18)

 

• To introduce an organizing schema for the study of death-related practices: the “death system” in every society

 

• To describe the death-related events of September 11, 2001, and responses to those events made by the death system in our society

 

• To explore patterns of human-induced death in the form of: accidents, homicide, terrorism, war, genocide, and ethnic cleansing, the Holocaust, and the nuclear era

 

• To show how linguistic customs and the media typify death-related practices within the contemporary American death system

 

 

KEY TERMS AND PHRASES

 

Accidents: unintentional injuries

 

Death-related language: speech that employs language about death to describe or intensify talk about subjects that have nothing to do with death

 

Death-related practices: familiar routines, procedures, and actions that follow from or are related to death-related encounters and attitudes

 

Death system: the more or less formal ways in which every society organizes and mediates its involvements with death; each societal death system has its own elements and characteristic functions

 

Ethnic cleansing: using force or threats to try to make an area ethnically homogeneous by removing from that area persons of another ethnic or religious group

 

Euphemism: the substitution of a “pleasant” or “less offensive” word or phrase for one thought to be “unpleasant” or “offensive,” usually because of its blunt or direct character

 

Fantasized death: unrealistic portraits of death (in the media)

 

Genocide: the annihilation or attempted annihilation of an entire race of people

 

The Holocaust: the killing of millions of persons—especially Jews—by the Nazis in during World War II merely because of who they were, not because of what they did

 

Homicide: the action of one human being that intentionally kills another human being

 

Human-induced death: death resulting from the actions or inactions of human beings

 

Language about death: speech about topics like death, dying, and bereavement

 

The nuclear era: the period in which humans can obtain energy from the nucleus of certain elements; here, it has special reference to the use (and potential dangers) of nuclear energy as a source of power, for peaceful uses or in weapons of mass destruction

 

Socially-sanctioned death: activities like war and genocide in which societal actions bring about death among their own members or among members of other societies

 

Terrorism: the use of extreme violence to kill, coerce, or intimidate others on behalf of some religious, political, or ideological goal, while deliberately targeting or disregarding the safety of noncombatant civilians

 

 

SELECTED INTERNET SEARCH TERMS: accidents; assault; death practices (or “death-related practices”); death-related language; death system; ethnic cleansing; euphemisms; fantasized death; genocide; the Holocaust; homicide, language about death; the media and death; the nuclear era (also “Chernobyl,” “Hiroshima,” “Nagasaki,” “Three Mile Island”); socially-sanctioned death; terrorism; war

 

 

SELECTED ORGANIZATIONAL AND OTHER INTERNET SITES:

 

Association of Holocaust Organizations; www.ahoinfo.org

Council on American-Islamic Relations; www.cair.com

Doomsday Clock; www.thebulletin.org/content/doomsday-clock/overview

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reports; www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/uc

Save Darfur Coalition; www.savedarfur.org

Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation; http://dornsife.usc.edu/vhi

U.S. Department of Homeland Security; www.dhs.gov

U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (Washington, D.C.); www.ushmm.org

 

 

SUGGESTED DISCUSSION TOPICS

 

Chapters 2 and 3 sketch broad outlines of death-related encounters and attitudes; Chapter 4 adds examples of death-related practices in contemporary American life. We use this chapter to help students realize that our society has well-organized practices for coping with death. That corrects simple descriptions of our society as a purely “death denying” culture. Students can recognize the “death system” in our society and can be shown how it responded shortly after the events of September 11, 2001.

 

We also indicate in Chapter 4 in a more detailed way some features of contemporary American experiences with death: human-induced forms of death, the powerful force of language, and the influence of the media in our culture. Our goal is to help students link these features to their own experiences and to open awareness of the possibility of other sorts of death-related experiences. Examples of the Holocaust and the nuclear era show how historical events have ongoing

contemporary impact. In all of these examples, students can see once again how death-related encounters, attitudes, and practices influence each other in complex ways.

 

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

 

Activities ##1 & 2: See p. 36 in this Instructor’s Manual.

 

Activity #3: Elements and Functions of the Contemporary American Death System

1. Create small groups of at least 5-6 participants
2. Ask each group to reflect on and discuss elements and/or functions of our death

system that are familiar to them

1. Choose a reporter to share results of each discussion with the class as a whole

 

Activity #4: The American Death System and the Events of September 11, 2001

1. Create small groups of at least 5-6 participants
2. Ask each group to reflect on and discuss elements and/or functions of our death

system in relationship to the events of September 11, 2001; what elements

came into play and what functions did they serve

1. Choose a reporter to share results of each discussion with the class as a whole

 

Activity #5: Human-Induced Death

1. Create small groups of at least 5-6 participants
2. Ask each group to reflect on and discuss similarities and differences between

selected types of human-induced death and their effects on people in our society

1. Choose a reporter to share results of each discussion with the class as a whole

 

Activity #6: The Holocaust, Hiroshima/Nagasaki, or Other War-Related Experiences

1. Assign students to view a video on the Holocaust, Hiroshima/Nagasaki, or

other war-related experiences

1. Have them write a brief essay on their reactions to that experience

 

Activity #7: How Death and Violence are Portrayed in the Media

1. Ask students to select some portion of the media (newspapers, TV news

reports, entertainment programs)

1. From the selected media, ask students to write a brief essay on how death and

violence are portrayed

 

Activity #8: Journal Keeping on Death in the Media

1. Ask students to keep a journal for two weeks noting the number and types of

deaths appearing in the media (taking examples from newspapers, TV news reports,

cartoons, media games)

Activity #9: Death-Related Language

1. Create small groups of at least 5-6 participants
2. Ask each group to reflect on and discuss ways in which people in our society

talk about death

1. Alternatively (or additionally), ask the group to reflect on and discuss ways in

which people in our society use death-related language when they are not

talking about death itself

1. Choose a reporter to share results of each discussion with the class as a whole

 

 

MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS

 

(Note: Our directions to students for multiple-choice questions are, “Select the best answer from among the options provided.” Items marked “WWW” are posted on the companion website for this book at www.cengagebrain.com to use as practice quizzes.)

 

1. Chapter Four in our textbook is most directly focused on
2. death-related encounters

*   b. death-related practices

1. death-related attitudes
2. death-related experiences
3. none of these (pp. 69-105)

 

2. According to Kastenbaum, a “death system”
3. includes persons (e.g., lawyers, florists)
4. refers to specific times (e.g., Memorial Day
5. points to symbols associated with death (e.g., a skull and crossbones)

*   d. all of these

1. none of these (pp. 71-72)

 

3. According to our book,
4. death systems may be formal, explicit, and widely acknowledged in some of their aspects
5. some type of death system is found in every society
6. some death systems are largely hidden and not much talked about

*   d. all of these

1. none of these (pp. 71-72)

 

4. The elements of a “death system” include
5. preventing death
6. caring for the dying

*   c. objects and symbols

1. disposing of the dead
2. sanctioning certain kinds of killing (p. 72)WWW

 

5. The functions of a “death system” include
6. people and places
7. times
8. objects and symbols

*   d. making sense of death

1. none of these (p. 72)

 

 

 

 

 

6. Among the three natural disasters described in Focus On 4.2, the largest

numbers of death occurred in:

1. New Orleans and the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina in August 2005

*   b. Haiti after the earthquake in January 2010

1. Japan after the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011
2. Haiti in connection with the cholera epidemic from October 2010 through

January 2011

1. none of these (pp. 73-75)

 

7. On September 11, 2001, the contemporary American death system
8. destroyed a significant portion of the Pentagon
9. provided a formal network whereby passengers on one airliner overcame their hijackers

and frustrated the goals of the terrorists

1. prevented the spreading of anthrax spores through the mails
2. found those responsible for placing a bomb in a parking garage at the World Trade Center

*   e. mobilized to try to prevent death and save lives                                          (p. 76)

 

8. In the days following September 11, 2001, the contemporary American death system
9. gave advance warnings of the assault that was to occur at the World Trade Center

*   b. sought to work toward social consolidation

1. rejected the idea that rallying symbols could be helpful to our society
2. found those responsible for placing a bomb in a parking garage at the World Trade Center
3. prevented the spreading of anthrax spores through the mails (p. 77)

 

9. In its study of events associated with September 11, 2001, the National Commission on

Terrorist Attacks found that there were many failures of intelligence and coordination. These

failures primarily affected the American death system in its function of

1. caring for the dying
2. working toward social consolidation after death
3. bringing about socially-sanctioned killing
4. helping to make sense of death

*   e. giving warnings and predictions                                                                 (p. 76)

 

10. The phrase “human-induced deaths” includes deaths caused by
11. accidents
12. homicide
13. suicide

*   d. all of these

1. none of these (p. 78)

 

11. The leading cause of death in the United States among all persons aged 1 to 44 is
12. heart disease
13. cancer
14. suicide
15. homicide

*   e. accidents                                                                                                 (p. 78)WWW

 

12. In 2007, the fifth leading cause of death in the United States for the entire population was
13. war
14. homicide
15. cancer

*   d. accidents

1. diseases of the heart (p. 78)

 

 

 

13. Since 2002, deaths rates for accidents in our society

*   a. have been gradually increasing

1. have been gradually declining
2. have remained basically the same
3. have not been affected by wearing seatbelts
4. none of these (p. 79)

 

14. In the U.S., the group that has the highest death rates from vehicular accidents is
15. elderly persons over age 65

*   b. 15-24 year-old males

1. 15-24 year-old females
2. children under age 2
3. adults between 35-55 years of age (p. 80)

 

15. In 2007, the fifteenth leading cause of death in the United States for the entire population was
16. war

*   b. homicide

1. cancer
2. accidents
3. diseases of the heart (p. 80)

 

16. Since the late 1980s in our society, homicide rates have

*   a. been trending gradually upward

1. declined sharply
2. remained largely unchanged
3. shown an unexpected reduction in only one year (2001)
4. been extraordinarily low for a developed society (p. 80)

 

17. In recent years, homicide rates in the U.S. have been highest among
18. females 15-24 years of age
19. the elderly
20. strangers of different races
21. the U.S. population as a whole

*   e. males 15-24 years of age                                                                          (pp. 80-81)

 

18. Approximately 50% of all homicides in the United States occur
19. between people of opposite genders
20. between people of different races

*   c. between family members or acquaintances

1. between persons of different national origin
2. between people in widely different age cohorts (p. 81)

 

19. Dying by homicide is

*   a. usually sudden and unexpected

1. often nonviolent
2. rarely an experience involving family members
3. typically found among older members of society
4. most frequently experienced by females (p. 83)

 

20. Experts describe typical characteristics of perpetrators of mass shootings as

including:

*   a. having access to weapons powerful enough to satisfy their need for revenges

1. finding emotional support from friends or family
2. a tendency to internalize blame
3. heightened ability to cope with life’s disappointments
4. able to overcome catastrophic precipitating events (p. 82)

 

21. Which of the following is not an example of socially sanctioned deaths discussed in

Chapter 4 in our textbook?

1. genocide

*   b. homicide

1. war
2. the Holocaust
3. the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (pp. 80-83)

 

22. Which of the following is correct?

*   a. individual terrorism involves one person acting to harm or kill others or to

destroy property, acting as a lone agent

1. group terrorism involves a formally organized group of people
2. state-supported terrorism is explicitly supported by a government
3. terrorism which acts at a distance endangers the life of the terrorist
4. none of these                                                                                     (p. 84)

 

23. Terrorism that employs suicide bombings
24. is an example of acting at a distance
25. is an example of roadside bombs
26. was used by Timothy McVeigh against the Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April 1995
27. was used against the World Trade Center on February 26, 1993

*   e. was used in the attack on the USS Cole in the harbor at Aden, Yemen, in 2000

(pp. 85-86)

24. Acts of terrorism in the 21^st century
25. typically lead to non-traumatic losses

*   b. are often careless in their disregard for human life

1. rarely bring about sudden death
2. often have political or religious implications
3. allow time to prepare for the deaths they cause (p. 87)

 

25. Acts of terrorism in the 21^st century
26. typically lead to traumatic losses
27. are often careless in their disregard for human life
28. frequently result in sudden death

*   d. all of these

1. none of these (p. 86-87)

 

26. A prominent example of an ongoing genocide during 2004 and 2005 is found in
27. Iraq
28. Afghanistan
29. Poland

*   d. Sudan

1. Iran (p. 89)

 

27. Ethnic cleansing
28. is closely regulated by international groups like the United Nations

*   b. defies easy definition

1. easily distinguished from forced emigration and population exchange
2. not found in the history of the United States of America
3. typically relatively benign in its goals and methods (pp. 87 & 89)WWW

 

 

 

 

 

28. The Holocaust is thought to be
29. similar in its basic characteristics to other forms of human-induced death

*   b. unique for its scope and political or ideological basis

1. distinguished by its focus on prisoners of war
2. limited to the Japanese in World War II
3. none of these (p. 90)

 

29. Nuclear power became a new force for death

*   a. in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, 1945

1. at the accident in the nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979
2. on July 16, 1945, at the Trinity test site in New Mexico
3. at the explosion in the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986
4. on March 9, 1945, at the firebombing of Tokyo (p. 92)

 

30. Since World War II, the lethal potential of nuclear weapons and nuclear power has been

manifested in

1. the nuclear power plant accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979
2. the results of a natural disaster in Japan in 2011
3. the explosion in the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986

*   d. all of these

1. none of these (p. 93)

 

31. Phrases used to describe death, such as “bought the farm” or “passed away” typically reflect
32. non-acceptance of death
33. denial of death
34. distancing from death

*   d. all of these

1. none of these (pp. 94-96)

 

32. The use of euphemisms about death
33. is declining in American society

*   b. can be useful if they are not overused

1. supports the acceptance of dying and death
2. demonstrates American willingness to support the grief of survivors
3. is most prevalent among Americans who are 19-26 years of age (pp. 94-96)

 

33. In contemporary American society
34. individuals never use death-related language
35. most individuals are horrified to hear someone say “dead” or “die”

*   c. many individuals use death-related language, but usually in contexts other

than those involving the dying or death of a human being

1. all of these
2. none of these                                     (pp. 96-97)WWW

 

34. Most people in contemporary American society have
35. encountered death directly and often

*   b. encountered death vicariously (e.g., through the media)

1. witnessed non-violent deaths in media news reports
2. all of these
3. none of these (p. 97)

 

 

 

 

 

 

35. Reports of deaths in the news media of contemporary society
36. are not governed by criteria of newsworthiness

*   b. are a highly selective portrait of death

1. emphasize ordinary people who die in ordinary ways
2. all of these
3. none of these (pp. 98-99)

 

36. Death announcements are
37. an exception to the general rules of newsworthiness
38. different from obituaries
39. brief notices mentioning the fact of death, names of survivors, and plans (if any) for funeral

or burial services

*   d. all of these

1. none of these (pp. 98-99)

 

37. Which of the following is most accurate?
38. media portrayed deaths most often focus on violent deaths
39. media deaths often focus on the deaths of so-called “special” persons rather than more

“ordinary” people

1. death announcements in newspapers are paid for by survivors
2. the violent deaths portrayed in entertainment media are seldom accompanied by

portrayals of grief

*   e. all of these                                                                                               (pp. 98-99)

 

38. To speak of fantasized death in the media means that

*   a. death is frequently present in the entertainment media, but often in unrealistic ways

1. death is almost completely absent in the entertainment media
2. those who usually die are “good guys,” heroic figures
3. all of these
4. none of these (pp. 100-101)WWW

 

39. In children’s cartoons like “Roadrunner,” death is often depicted as
40. a natural part of living
41. an occasion for grief

*   c. an unrealistic phenomena that does not involve finality

1. all of these
2. none of these (p. 100)

 

40. Entertainment programs in contemporary media tend to distort portrayals of death because

they use

*   a. selectivity and fantasization

1. realism and individuation
2. impossible situations
3. all of these
4. none of these (pp. 100-101)

 

 

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

 

41. Identify and explain one important element in the contemporary American death system and

show how it functioned in relation to the events of September 11, 2001. Be specific. Give

examples.                                                                                        (pp. 72  & 76-78)

 

42. Identify and explain one way in which accidental deaths and deaths from homicide are similar,

as well as one way in which they are different. Be specific.                             (pp. 78-83)

 

43. Identify and explain one way in deaths associated with the Holocaust and deaths associated

with the atomic bombing of Hiroshima are similar, as well as one way in which they are

different. Be specific.                                                                                    (pp. 90-94)

 

44. In contemporary American society, there are some situations in which language about death

      is not used or avoided, and other situations in which death-related language is used freely.

      Why is that so? What is different about these contrasting sets of situations and about these

two kinds of  languages?                                                                              (pp. 94-97)

 

45. Compare and contrast typical ways in which death appears in any two (2) of the following

three media contexts: (a) television news reports; (b) death announcements in the

newspapers; (c) entertainment programs on television.                                  (pp. 97-101)

 

 

ESSAY QUESTIONS

 

46. This chapter uses Kastenbaum’s concept of a “death system” to draw together information

about death-related encounters and attitudes, and practices.

1. Define what is meant by a death system.
2. Identify, briefly explain, and give an example of each of the elements of a death system.
3. Identify, briefly explain, and give an example of each of the functions of a death system.                                                                                                 (pp. 70-73)

 

47. Identify and explain three (3) lessons arising from the discussion of human-induced death in

Chapter 4 that are significant for our understanding of the contemporary American death

system.                                                                                                       (pp. 78-94)

 

48. Using the text’s definition of terrorism, show how terrorism is significant for our study of

death, dying, and bereavement in terms of its perpetrators, means, and goals. Be specific.

Give examples.                                                                                            (pp. 83-87)

 

49. Explain what is unique about the Holocaust and the beginning of the nuclear era in terms of

their effects on our encounters and attitudes toward death. That is, why and how do they

change in some ways our understanding of, encounters with, and attitudes toward death.                                                                                                                                (pp. 90-94)

 

50. Explain the role that the media play in our death system. Show how the media portray death,

how they affect our encounters with death, and how they help to shape our attitudes toward

death.                                                                                                         (pp. 97-101)